harvard street cubao

Saturday, February 25, 2006

New Domicile

Hi!
Thank you for visiting this blog.
I have moved a couple houses down Harvard Street and have occupied a new domicile. Quite near the commercial district of Cubao. An on-line ukay-ukay/baratillo blog of my own. Drop by and you will the find me there writing, reflecting and selling some stuff.
Three of my blogs - Harvard Street Cubao, Library 7 and cine67 - have now merged. Here is my new blog:
baratillo books cinema & pinoy blog @ cubao
Drop by anytime.
Again, thanks for visiting.
Juned

Friday, February 24, 2006

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares the whole country to be in a State of Emergency after an attempt by certain elements in the Armed Forces of the Philippines was stopped. Audio file was taken from the PCIJ blog.
Also known as Proclamation No. 1017

MALACAÑANG PALACE
MANILA
PROCLAMATION NO. 1017
PROCLAMATION DECLARING A STATE OF NATIONAL EMERGENCY
WHEREAS, over these past months, elements in the political opposition have conspired with authoritarians of the extreme Left represented by the NDF-CPP-NPA and the extreme Right, represented by military adventurists--the historical enemies of the democratic Philippine State—who are now in tactical alliance and engaged in a concerted and systematic conspiracy, over a broad front, to bring down the duly constituted Government elected in May 2004.
WHEREAS, these conspirators have repeatedly tried to bring down the President;
WHEREAS, the claims of these elements have been recklessly magnified by certain segments of the national media;
WHEREAS, this series of actions is hurting the Philippine State--by obstructing governance including hindering the growth of the economy and sabotaging the people’s confidence in government and their faith in the future of this country;
WHEREAS, these actions are adversely affecting the economy;
WHEREAS, these activities give totalitarian forces of both the extreme Left and extreme Right the opening to intensity their avowed aims to bring down the democratic Philippine State;
WHEREAS, Article 2, Section 4 of our Constitution makes the defense and preservation of the democratic institutions and the State the primary duty of Government;
WHEREAS, the activities above-described, their consequences, ramifications and collateral effects constitute a clear and present danger to the safety and the integrity of the Philippine State and of the Filipino people;
NOW, THEREFORE, I Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested upon me by Section 18, Article 7 of the Philippine Constitution which states that: “ The President…whenever it becomes necessary,…may call out (the) armed forces to prevent or suppress…rebellion…, “ and in my capacity as their Commander-in-Chief, do hereby command the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to maintain law and order throughout the Philippines, prevent or suppress all forms of lawless violence as well any act of insurrection or rebellion and to enforce obedience to all the laws and to all decrees, orders and regulations promulgated by me personally or upon my direction; and as provided in Section 17, Article 12 of the Constitution do hereby declare a State of National Emergency.
IN WITNESS HEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.
Done in the City of Manila, this 24th day of February, in the year of Our Lord, two thousand and six.
GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO
President

DOWNLOAD/LISTEN/PAKINGGAN from OurMedia
Show Notes:
Just audio of Arroyo's speech. The speech was in Tagalog.
For questions, comments, suggestions or rants you can send an email at radiocubao@gmail.com or just post your thoughts on the comment section of the blog.
You can also send your mp3 to radiocubao@podomatic.com

Putsch, Coups and Gen Lim

ANOTHER ONE?/EUPHEMISMS
I was taking a respite from posting this week; I am preparing for some changes in the blog and blogs I work on. When it struck. This morning watching the news on GMA 7 it was announced that the AFP had stopped an attempted withdrawal of support from the Aroyyo government. According to news reports from the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the PCIJ, the plan was to join those involved in the attempted withdrawal of support to join the rally, the one in Makati or the one near Mendiola?, while carrying their side arms.
Attempted withdrawal of support? Golly, Is that not a grand euphemism for a coup, a putsch and a golpe.
BRIG GEN DANNY LIM and RAM
The highest ranking officer involved is Brig Gen Danny Lim of the 1st Scout Ranger Battallion stationed at Bulacan. The Scout Rangers is one of the elite units of the AFP and known for wearing black fatigues. Gen Ileto, one of the few Generals who did not join Marcos during the declaration of Martial Law, was one of the founders of the unit. The rangers are battle hardened unit that goes toe to toe with its enemies.
The Scout Rangers also figured prominently in history because during one of the attempted coups against Cory Aquino they took hold of the Makati Central Business District for several days. The Magdalo group took control of Oakwood but the Scout Rangers took control of the whole district. Forcing the Cory Aquino government to negotiate. By the way this coup was the bloodiest coup in history and Aquino survived it because of US intervention. In the end the Scout Rangers agreed to return to barracks. They marched along Ayala Avenue straight to Bonifacio carrying their arms and bringing with them their Armored Personnel Carriers. The Rangers in Makati were commanded by Col Raffy Galvez and among his junior officers were Captain Danny Lim and Major (?) Puruganan.
Cap Danny Lim is the same Gen Lim who is now the central figure in what is called an attempted withdrawal of support. Lim is a highly intelligent officer, studied at West Point and topped several military courses. Puruganan is now attached to the Department of National Defense. How the paths of fate twist and turn. Col Galvez has retired from military service.
What prompted Lim to allegedly do this? I do not know. Would it bear fruit, only time will tell, the day has not yet finished. Lets see.
The radio stations, tv shows, blogs are all reporting the same thing. If there is anything else that might be worth a look at would be the rallies today and the government response. The government will of course go into bunker mode. Those in the rally will probably take advantage of whatever opportunity is left, seeing that Lim has been exposed and their plot laid bare.
PUTSCHS AND PUTCHISTS
An attempted withdrawal of support or a putsch to succeed has to have the element of surprise. And it usually comes from the person you least expect.In Chile President Allende was worried about the other generals when the death blow came fom his appointee Gen Pinochet. In Edsa One, Honasan et al were not really discreet their plan discovered they elected to make a last stand at Edsa. This was then taken advantage of individually by Ramos, Enrile and Cardinal Sin to whip up support that led to Edsa. Cardinal Sin was the most significant player in this episode and heralded the return of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy into the affairs of state.One can argue they, the temporal representatives and leaders of the different faith, have always been there inside the circle of power, but Edsa I strengthened their hold. So Cardinal Sin, probably the most saviest political leader in the Philippines alongside Marcos and Quezon, saved Enrile, Ramos, Cory, Honasan and the Ram's backside. The present Princes of the Church seemed to be a mixed bunch of political neophytes, useful fools and genuine Christians so despite how much respected their opinion is it is just opinion. Another aside, it is for this reason that I think Enrile and Honasan's claim that they should not have given Cory is tripe. If it were not for Sin and the people he rallied they would been mince meat to General Ver.
Other succesful coups was that of Suharto, actually a countercoup, in Indonesia and the Russian Communist Party. Oh, Of course several other coups in Latin America. Again, in most cases the death blow was delivered by someone close and trusted.
The problem with Philippine Putsch is that nearly all of it are discovered and in the end they opt to make a last stand - from Camp Crame, Manila Hotel, the Makati Financial District and even GMA 7, the TV station. Its become predictable. Still the allure might be as great, from the novel Shogun by James Clavell it is said "it is only treason if it fails."
A LESSON FROM THE MOST FAMOUS FAILED PUTSCH
Adolf Hitler also conducted a Putsch in a Beer Hall in Munich. By supreme stupidity and lack of support from the Army the putsch turned sour. Hitler and company were jailed. While he was incarcerated he wrote Mein Kampf and he opted to get power legally. Several years later the National Socialist steadily win Reichstag seats and fought a dynamic campaign for president against Hindenburg. He does eventually become Chancellor and ultimately Fuerher.
While coups and uprisings maybe the more seductive way of doing change it is risky and unstable. Being in the political opposition means you only have to wait for your opponent to fail and provide a better alternative, key word here is a better alternative.
So how will things fare today. Most probably it will end with the detention of Gen Lim and the present political opposition - the disenfranchised politicians, coryistas not in power, disgruntled businessmen, leftist still longing for power and other self-appointed messiahs - calling for change.
Lets see or in Tagalog ABANGAN ANG SUSUNOD NA KABANATA
One lesson from EDSA - remember that your leader/"liberator" is but human.

Landslide: Guinsaugon in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte

I guess there will be a lot of retrospective analysis and discussion about it in the days to come.One thing will not change though, it happened and a community disappeared. One of the document mentioned by the Filipino Librarian is a document called “The Philippine Disaster Management Story: Issues and Challenges, which was published by the Thailand-based Asian Disaster Preparedness Center.Said document, which is available in PDF, HTML, and Word , details the Philippines experience with disaster, from Pre-Spanish to our time.It is an interesting read and quite detailed; aside from listing down the different natural disasters, the document tells us of the practices and safe-measures adopted through the years – this included, but not limited to, the use of the baranggay, rationale behind the design of houses, importance of identifying potential danger points.

Buildings and other Safety Measures

The document actually gives me pause about the soundness of our present building practices and introduces the practicality of the old designs, houses on stilts, the bahay kubo, and the bahay na bata.Types of houses designed to endure the tropical climate (counter humidity) and protect its inhabitants.Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hut) were designed to be easily built when Earthquakes strike and be high enough to avoid the flood. The Bahay na Bato (Stone Houses was designed to withstand the ravages of nature by having a bottom heavy foundation and a wooded second floor to lessen the injury that would result if it collapsed. In it you can see two basic approaches to house design and natural disaster. One to adapt and survive, while the later to resist and survive.

Googling the land slide also brings you the web pages of the City of Oceanside, where in you will find these informative links:

All this points to disaster preparedness.As Kelvin Rodolfo once said that since the Philippines is located in a geologically dynamic area, earthquake, tsunami and volcanic eruptions we are in area populated by volcanoes called the ring of fire all of us should be prepared for the worse.

CAUSES OF THE TRAGEDY

Over lunch today, I asked my father, a retired geophysicist, as to what cause the landslide. Did logging cause it?Where there enough trees in the area ? He told me that based on the initial reports that he picked from the news it would seem that this does not seem so.Several factors led to this tragedy –

The steepness of the mountain

The saturation or soaking up level of the ground

The fracturing of the stone bed in the area, the fracturing caused by seismic activity

The amount of rainfall that hit the area

WHAT NOW?

As I finish this post the chance of finding survivors, seem to be fading.Although a government official said that the several people had fled the community a few days ago. However, theyhad been coming back just before the landslide happened.In another report nearby villages were showing signs of agitation and fear, who could blame them? Manuel Viloria mentions of some uncanny incidences and a woman who warned and predicted of this tragedy.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Anyone interested in setting up a wiki?
For me its a fun way to keep notes and keep a database on-line. One of the e-groups I belong use it to compile a file of everyone in the group and some random notes. Its fun. And a handy thing to have, I set-up one and use it to keep notes and arrange stuff. I have been meaning to write about it for sometime then they came up with a promo to promote them in exchange you get to double space. There are nice things about marketing campaigns.
Anyway you might the able to use their services, I did ... no kidding.
By the way their tagline is:

“PBwiki makes creating a wiki as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich”

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Taxes and Food

Less eating out due to taxes?
TAXES
Taxes in any form or name is never never welcomed. What is the purpose of taxes? The quick answer would be to get funds for maintaining public service - service the roads, finance the police and the military, fund the civil service and in general provide public service. This is where your taxes go would be the maxim. Another purpose may be to distribute the wealth. There has and there will always be an imbalance of wealth in society; And there will always be the poor. You can never alleviate poverty, but what you can do is to redistribute the wealth.
The inability to do so would be catastrophic. Unless you can redistribute the wealth then there will be problems, to put it slightly. In one of the Ancient Greek States the problem became so terrible that debtors slashed the throat of creditors in a single day. And in the Roman Empire the most hated figures were not the Roman Legions but the tax collectors. These were the people who were immediately killed whenever Rome lost a city to an enemy.
Revolutions all revolutions result in the redistribution of wealth. But unfortunately in time one sees the re-accumulation of wealth within within a few people. In Ancient Rome things were solved with conscription of enemies of th state - losers in the political battle. Of course not all of it were given to the public, a number were killed for their silver and gold. As long as part of the wealth was used to provide bread and salt to Roman Citizens everything was fine. Thus, a portion of it went to the people, the rest went to the coffers of the victors. There were two conscription in Ancient Rome's history the first by Sulla and the second by Mark Anthony, Octavian and Lepidus. This redistribution also served another chilly purpose it provided a means for those who won to further weaken the position of enemies and potential rivals. This method was used often by a Chinese Emperor to control the ambition of his generals, often asking his generals to build magnificent palaces, buildings, and bridges; limiting his generals' financial capacity to mount a grab for power. So here it is the other uses of taxation:

Redistribution of wealth

Conscription of enemies

Stabilization of the the State

Ideally, taxes should then be limited to the monied class or the plutocracy. Those who have excessive amounts of money, really excessive amounts of money.
FOOD
Where does food come in the picture of taxation? Well it seems that
there are fewer punters to restaurants today. Could it be due to the increased taxes or is it just a pre-Valentine hiatus? And is the mini-sizing of food items also an affect of the tax.
Only time will tell, probably. In the meantime the old Tagalog proverb

Kung maikli ang kumot dapat matutong yumuko

In English

If the only blanket one receives is short one must learn to fit into it

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Frenzy and feeding frenzies

While THE NEW STANDARD English- Filipino Dictionary defines and translates Frenzy as -

pagkahibang

pagkadiliryo

pagka-ulol

Maybe this is a better term than panic to describe what happened at the Wowowee tragedy. Of course, panic would have followed immediately the frenzy.
The word frenzy stuck in my head. The word did not go away. Then like a bolt of lightning it came a feeding frenzy. Check what Encarta has to say about a feeding frenzy -
There are two definitions to feeding frenzy. The first one relates to an intense violent period of eating when a large number of animals/species zero in on a food source. Seems to be this is what happened given large number of people, waiting for several days, and a limited amount of prizes available. More interesting is the informal of definition, frantic activity focused on an indiviudal, group, organisation or an institution when an opportunity to exloit can be seen.
The aftermath of this tragedy has seen ABS-CBN and it allies being beseiged by criticims by its competitors, enemies and people with genuine grievances/concern. One cannot argue against the last set of individuals they deserve to do it and they have to do it get justice done. There are, however, a large number of individuals who have old scores to settle and surgical strikes to do against ABS-CBN. This the another type of frenzy.
If the Ultra stampede is similar, unfortunately, to a feeding frenzy of piranhas. The feeding frenzy between ABS-CBN and its competitors ( and some enemies) seemed to be feeding frenzy among sharks. Still the second comparison seems to be a little bit hard on the sharks.
And brings to mind this quotation.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Cartoon that launched more than a thousand fires

No, It is not this cartoon.
Editorial Cartoon of Philippine Daily Inquirer
Feb 8, 2006
The following link will take you to INQ7.net
While reading, I came across this Editorial Cartoon at the Philippine Daily Inquirer. There is a quote that goes a picture is worth a thousand words; in this case a this caricature is worth a thousand words.
Ha Ha Ha!
Editorial cartoons have been part of any newspaper. In fact, an editorial cartoon is a good chronicler of political events. Just check the US editorial cartoons during the time when the United States was just beginning to colonize the Philippine Islands. It is an interesting record of the opinions on US Imperialism. A book entitled “Cartoon History of Republic by E.J. Izon is a good way of summarizing the issues that have been the core of contention during the time of early Philippine Republic after World War II. Of course, editorial cartoons are expressions of point of views on a given issue. Rarely has it caused adverse and extreme reaction. However, lately another set of editorial cartoons - depicting the prophet Mohammed in an unflattering light - has caused massive and widespread condemnation and violent reprisals across the Muslim world.
The cartoons, which in one cartoon depicted the Prophet’s turban as a bomb, seemed to have been used by extremists to incite mobs across the world:
Massive demonstrations were held against the editorial cartoons and the European nations where the cartoons were published. In Palestine, mobs shot at the office of the European Union and European nationals fled as threats were made against their persons. In Lebanon, an Embassy was torched by a mob. In addition, in several Arab countries, Muslims decided not to buy goods and products from a number of European countries.
So it is the burning of flags, diplomatic offices, economic boycott of a number of European products, and the threat against of a number of European nationals. At least no one has issued a Fatwah against the artist who drew the editorial cartoon. When Salman Rushdie came out with the Satanic Verses. The Ayatollah of Iran issued the death sentence and Rushdie went into hiding and stay incognito for several years. At least he did not end like the Japanese translator of Satanic Verses who was stabbed to death.
Confronted with this reaction the Western newspapers continued and even increased the publishing of the said cartoons. The political leaders of course were busy saying sorry to the Muslim communities around the world.
One can understand the anger felt by all Muslims. The caricatures depicted the Prophet in an unflattering light and it violated a Muslim practice that forbade the depiction of the Prophet, it is considered idolatry. I remember looking at a series of painting about the life of the Prophet Mohammed as a child and there he was the Prophet Mohammed depicted a full figure without a face. However, the violent reactions that followed seemed to have been orchestrated by Islamic extremists. The only time in recorded human history when this happened, the frenzied unifying of the followers of Islam, was when the Crusaders captured and sacked Jerusalem, in the process massacring several people in the Mosque. It was said the blood filled up the floor of the Mosque. Slaughtered people in a pool blood. Not difficult to see why the Crusaders were eventually wiped out of the Holy Land and Kingdom of Jerusalem destroyed.
France, In the court of Capets, there once was an artist who did a series of drawings of the King. The drawings showed the transformation of the King's face into a peach. Nearly everyone in the court had a laugh. Unfortunately, for the artist the King did not find his art work amusing. More unfortunate for the artist the King was one of those who well shall we say not pleased with his work.
Drawings can sometimes be things of extreme danger.
Where will the violent reactions to the editorial cartoons lead humanity?
An Additional Post
Araneta Colisuem and Gateway Mall

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Stampedes and chocolates

STAMPEDE ARTICLES
Two interesting posts about the Wowowee Tragedy, which led to the death of more than seventy persons and the injuries of hundreds.
Alecks Pabico at the PCIJ blog posted an informative article about the stampede entitled:
Panic-induced stampede aggravated by narrow exits, lack of exit and crowd control plans Â scientists.
And
Sky at the white papers: stories live from cubicle L23 also wrote an intersting post:
The Physics of Stampedes
Both articles looks into the physical factors and phenomenon that plays into a stampede. The PJIC articles hasPDFf files that explain the phenomenon in detail.
According to the UP-based scientists from AGHAM (Samahan ng Nagtataguyod ng Agham at Teknolohiya para sa Sambayanan) at the Tragedy at Ultra had all the factors leading to a panic induced stampede.
AGHAM chairperson, UP-based physicist Dr Giovanni Tapang said: "Narrow exits, lack of coordination, absence of exits plans, movement in multiple directons combined with a strong desire to reach an objective due to poverty is a recipe for panic-induced stampede,".
Tapang along with Dr. Caesar Paloma, Gay Perez, Dr. May Lim, and Dr. Cynthia Palmes-Saloma demonstrated in their research with mice that panic-induced clogging at exits or passageways can be triggered by the following factors:

Width and design of passageways

Exit plan

Amount of panic or drive to reach the exit

Again an interesting set of information and sheds new light into what happened at Ultra. The information found on these posts are bolstered by studies done in relation to stampedes at football events, studies of traffic flows, and historical battles, where the outcome of the battle was decided by the nature of the plain. As in Henry V and the Battle of Agincourt. Henry's enemies the French, who overnumberedhisss forces, were massacred. The victory, which was traditionally attributed to the long bow, was brought about by several factors, one of which was a muddy terrain that narrowed down greatly. The French forces in attacking Henry committed their forces to attack passed through a narrowingMudd terrain. What followed next was a stampede that injured a number of the French knights and foot soldiers - killed by the booths of their own allies and mud of Agincourt.
A physical explanation of how things happens often helps us understand the situation more, help ferret out those guilty and hopefully prevent similar catastrophes in the future.
CHOCOLATES
Everyday I go home from work I see a group of people converging on this spot. Curious, I took a look and found out they were selling chocolates at a cheap price. Well, it does seem to be a good buy.
Here take a look:
An additional post for today
Ali Mall: 2006

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Promise of Wealth, Ratings, and Tragedy

I do not really watch shows at ABS-CBN. I have always been a watcher of Eat Bulaga, it is my preferred poison. So I got the news of the Ultra stampeded just after lunch when I checked my email. I finally managed to get my Internet connection last Saturday and despite the delay, I am happy with the service.
Across the world and through the Internet the news of the stampede had circled the globe. 70, 78, 88 people had died from a stampede just before the anniversary celebration of the popular game show Wowowee. The game show became popular because of the amount and number of prizes it gives away. A strategy similarly practiced by its competitors. Although, Wowowee seem to do this on the level of excessiveness. And the reason for this act? The desire to do good? Maybe only secondary. Most likely, it is the R word, the ratings game.
Despite this it would the seem the bond between contestants and game shows was mutually beneficial … at least if you are the winner or a wannabee winner.
Nobody knows how the stampede started, was it because someone shouted there was a bomb? Alternatively, because the crowd went wild when it was told the stadium was filled and no one could enter anymore? Only time will tell.
Then who is the one most responsible for this disaster? Who is to blame?
Over lunch today someone said that the tragedy happened because we Filipinos were undisciplined. This remarked sort of elicited a rebuke from me. Disasters or fatalities from stampede occur all over the world and through out the centuries. One of the factors that led to the victory of the English at Agincourt was the French forces were forced to attack from a wide field into a narrow muddy plain. A large amount of those dead were because they were trampled upon; crushed by the feet of their allies wishing to achieve victory. Several stampedes in football and rock concerts have resulted in fatalities. I do not think the crowd was undisciplined, rather the event was ill-planned and ill-implemented. You do not just build the momentum of a mass of people in three days and expect the surplus crowd to dispense orderly.
To ABS-CBN’s credit, they seem to be handling things well. The victims of the tragedy seem to be well-taken cared of. Only a few critical flaws in their efforts are worth noting:
1) There seems to be overkill in diverting the blame from their station. Despite their efforts to help the victims, it does not excuse them from their culpability in the situation.
2) Also the use of its stars to project an aura of concern and the playing of music seems to be a bit trite. And in the long run fake.
3) The re-branding of the show as a sort of self-less act of charity. It is a game show. No matter how much some of their people insist, that it has done charity works it is and will remain a charity pandering on hope and the quick buck to improve the ratings.
I wonder though if this focus on ratings was a significant in the mismanagement of the event.
Additional Post
Rome and the movies

Thursday, February 02, 2006

DSL and Job

Is it because of the demand or is faulty customer service that ISP are nearly always not on time when setting-up a DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER LINE (DSL) connections.
It has been several weeks since I have been contemplating on getting a DSL connection. Last Thursday, I finally made the payment and I was advised the DSL would be connected on Saturday. Unfortunately, up to today the company has not yet set-up the connection. Today, they have exceeded their five-day installation period. The excuse, if you can call it an excuse was that there were many connections to be installed. Hmmmm.
"Anyway, the order was already dispatched" reassured the voice on the other end of the phone.
And they have been repeating that statement everyday we called their office.
Maybe DSL has another meaning:
Delayed Set-Up Lagi
HA HA HA HA
And customer service does not belong together. :)
Maybe one of the "friends" of Job was the one who conceptualised the not-so-bright side of customer support.
Anyway, I feel like singing "Always Look at the Bright Side of Life".
I am singing it right now.
Additional Posts
Books and Films The Vampire, The Crooks and the BoardgameSmallest Fish: Round II